Li Banfeng deeply regretted that he had lost the body he could have refined into a pill. He solemnly lamented about it for a whole minute before he started looking for the dwelling spirit.
Nothing mattered more to Li Banfeng than the dwelling spirit. Only with one could a Homebound Cultivator advance. It was the only way to overcome the undeniable gap between a Wanderlust Cultivator and a Homebound Cultivator. To him, it meant life or death.
Of course, having a dwelling spirit also meant Li Banfeng would be bound to this house. Each day, he would have to travel a set distance to fulfill the basic requirement of his Wanderlust Cultivation, then return home on time to fulfill the basic requirement of Homebound Cultivation.
It sounded contradictory, yet Li Banfeng believed he could find a way to overcome it.
What does a dwelling spirit look like? It should look human, right? They called it a spirit, so it must be in human form
, Li Banfeng thought.
The courtyard held three tile-roofed houses and a storage shed. The shed was stacked with firewood and served as the prey room. Li Banfeng saw no sign of a human-shaped creature there.
He then stepped into a room in the east, where he found many jars and bottles, along with a pestle and an earthen pot for stir-frying herbs.
These look like tools for making poison
, Li Banfeng thought.
This must be Decai's room. Is the dwelling spirit here?
However, Li Banfeng still did not see a human-shaped creature. As he stepped out of Decai's room, he caught sight of a human-shaped creature. It was Xiao Yeci.
"Benefactor, we still haven't thanked you, eh?" Xiao Yeci said as she cautiously stared at Li Banfeng. The way he had killed moments ago still left her trembling with fear.
Behind her stood her daughter, Lu Chunying, who timidly poked her head out and glanced at Li Banfeng.
"No need for thanks." Li Banfeng brushed past the mother and daughter and walked straight into the tile-roofed house at the center.
"Benefactor, what are you looking for?" Xiao Yeci asked as she followed him.
"I'm looking for my money pouch. They took it from me," Li Banfeng replied dismissively. "You two had plenty taken from you as well, didn't you? Hurry and search. Once you find your things, hurry and leave."
"Benefactor, it's best not to barge into that house so carelessly. A dwelling spirit resides there."
She knows there's a dwelling spirit in this house?
Li Banfeng thought. He didn't rush to open the door and played dumb instead. "A dwelling spirit? What's that supposed to mean?"
"A dwelling spirit is a spirit nurtured by a Homebound Cultivator. That old woman was a Homebound Cultivator. You knew that, didn't you?"
"What's a Homebound Cultivator? I have no idea!" Li Banfeng said, still playing dumb.
"A Homebound Cultivator is the kind that stays in their own house. They aren't exactly powerful when they leave home, but the moment they step inside their house, they become really invisible, eh! That is why the old woman, despite being at such an old age, was so good at fighting. When you fought her, your strikes did nothing. I couldn't reason with her either. I think she's a level-one homebound cultivator. Inside her house, even a level-two cultivator wouldn't be able to defeat her. She was able to achieve all that because her dwelling spirit was helping her, eh!"
This woman seemed to carry an unusual depth of knowledge. Though his curiosity urged him to press further, Li Banfeng kept his composure and asked, "What does a dwelling spirit look like?"
"That's hard to say. Some dwelling spirits appear as water jars, others as rice ladles, roof beams, or even old yellow dogs guarding the gate."
Li Banfeng asked in astonishment, "Has there ever been one that looked like a person, eh?"
Xiao Yeci thought for a moment. "No, I've never heard of anything like that, eh."
Li Banfeng narrowed his eyes at Xiao Yeci and asked, "Have you ever seen a dwelling spirit yourself?"
Xiao Yeci shook her head. "No, I haven't, eh."
"Then you're just spouting nonsense, eh! You Mouth Cultivators really are too much." Li Banfeng turned away, no longer willing to pay her any attention.
Xiao Yeci's cheeks flushed red. "Benefactor, Mouth Cultivator is an insult~ I am a Literary Cultivator, eh… Since one of the techniques of a Literary Cultivator is the Lotus-Spitting Technique, people would often mock us as Mouth Cultivators. All that I told you before, I learned from books, eh."
Lu Chunying poked her head out from behind and said, "My mom has read a lot of books. She's very knowledgeable, and she's amazing with her words!"
Li Banfeng replied casually, "Yeah, women who are amazing with their mouths are always impressive."
So this woman is a Literary Cultivator. What kind of skill does a Literary Cultivator have?
Before Li Banfeng could ask, the woman explained on her own. "Literary Cultivators must read a lot of books. Only through extensive reading can we learn which words to use with different people and how to act in different situations."
Li Banfeng asked solemnly, "And when you met that old woman, how did you respond?"
"Benefactor, you're making fun of me," Xiao Yeci said, lowering her head. "I have practiced the Lotus-Spitting Technique well enough, but I had never encountered a Homebound Cultivator before. I didn't expect that old woman to resist every kind of speech, be it harsh, kind, or sweet, eh!"
"I managed to persuade her two sons. If that old woman hadn't been there, they would have let me go, eh... Her younger son, Demao, the one still missing, told me his mother was a Homebound Cultivator. He also said the dwelling spirit was inside her room."
It turned out she had coaxed it from Demao. That made it far more convincing in Li Banfeng's eyes.
"Did he say what the old woman's dwelling spirit looked like?"
Xiao Yeci shook her head. "He didn't dare. He said the dwelling spirit would hear him. All he told me was that it wasn't a very large object."
Not a large object?
Li Banfeng thought first of the old woman's hairpin, then of the short knife.
If the dwelling spirit is something like that, can I carry it with me? And if I can carry it, does that mean I can finally resolve the conflict between Homebound Cultivation and Wanderlust Cultivation?
"If a dwelling spirit could be carried around, then a Homebound Cultivator should still be protected by it outside of their home. Wouldn't that make them impossible to defeat?" Li Banfeng asked.
"Take a dwelling spirit out of the house, eh? Nobody would ever dare try that!" Xiao Yeci's eyes widened. "Benefactor, you really don't know anything about Homebound Cultivation, eh! Most Homebound Cultivators have no idea of the true nature of their dwelling spirit, so how could they ever dare take it outside?"
"And what would happen if they did?"
"Some books say a dwelling spirit is really a vengeful spirit. Inside a Homebound Cultivator's home, it's bound in chains. But once it leaves the house, those chains vanish. And once it's free, who knows what horrors such a spirit might unleash?
"I've never heard of a Homebound Cultivator carrying a dwelling spirit outside their home. However, I have heard of dwelling spirits growing too strong and breaking free. When that vengeful spirit escaped, it slaughtered everyone in sight and wiped out several nearby villages, eh! That Homebound Cultivator fled with his entire family for over a year, but in the end he couldn't escape death. His whole household was wiped out by his own dwelling spirit, eh…"
Li Banfeng chuckled. "Good. If a Homebound Cultivator could bring their dwelling spirit out, I wouldn't know what to do the next time I met one."
Though Li Banfeng said those words, a wave of emotion welled up inside him. Regret, surprise, and a faint sense of loss all tangled together. The conflict between Homebound Cultivation and Wanderlust Cultivation was really not something that could be easily resolved.
Still, no matter what, he knew his priority was to claim mastery over the dwelling spirit. But first, he had to get the mother and daughter out of here. Li Banfeng really didn't want others to know that he was a Homebound Cultivator and he didn't want anything to go wrong while he was claiming mastery over the dwelling spirit.
"Benefactor, Decai once told me that everything they looted was stored in the cellar out back, not in the house," Xiao Yeci said.
The three of them headed to the backyard. Xiao Yeci added, "He said the cellar was under the big stone beside the well."
Sure enough, a stone block sat beside the well. Just as Li Banfeng was about to move it, he hesitated and shot a glance at Xiao Yeci. A thought crossed his mind:
What if she kicks me into the cellar the moment I lift this stone? Then what?
Xiao Yeci froze for a moment, then quickly said, "Benefactor, I'm not lying. Everything I told you is true, eh!"
Whether she was telling the truth or not couldn't be confirmed for now. Still, one thought nagged at Li Banfeng.
Why did I believe her so easily? Is this the trick of a Mouth Cultivator?
Xiao Yeci caught the look in his eyes and rushed to explain, "Benefactor, sometimes I can't help it. The Lotus-Spitting Technique takes effect without my intent. Please don't doubt me. How about this? I'll move the stone and go down to fetch the things myself!"
The stone block looked as if it weighed several hundred jin, and Li Banfeng doubted she could really move it. Nevertheless, Xiao Yeci spoke with confidence. "We are cultivators. Our strength can't be compared to that of ordinary people. Benefactor, just watch. I won't need your help."
Li Banfeng stood off to the side, watching coldly. Whatever tricks she pulled, he had no intention of lifting a finger.
Xiao Yeci crouched low, planted her feet, and locked her stance. She wrapped her arms around the stone and drew in a deep breath. She gnashed her teeth and poured in all her strength. Her face turned bright red, and to Li Banfeng's surprise, she actually managed to move the stone block aside.
Sure enough, a door lay beneath the stone. Gasping for breath, Xiao Yeci said, "Benefactor, I'll go down first and take a look. Chunying, stay here and don't move!"
Li Banfeng made no objection and watched as she climbed down into the cellar. Before long, she clambered back up and said, "Benefactor, there's quite a lot down there. I don't know which ones are yours, eh."
"My things don't matter. Just take your own and hurry back up!"
Xiao Yeci climbed out of the cellar with a wicker chest. Carrying a wicker chest, Xiao Yeci climbed out of the cellar. "Benefactor, all of our belongings are in here. What does your money pouch look like? I'll go back down and get it for you."
Li Banfeng lowered his gaze and studied Xiao Yeci for a moment before asking, "Why are you helping me?"
Xiao Yeci lowered her head. "How can you even ask that, Benefactor? My daughter and I owe you our lives, eh."
But Li Banfeng didn't buy it. "You're doing this just to repay me?"
"It is to repay you, but… I also have something to ask of you," Xiao Yeci said, her voice growing weaker with each word.
Li Banfeng's face remained expressionless. "What is it?"
"We mother and daughter need to go to the Inner Gully of Medicine King Gully. We don't know anyone there, and the road is dangerous. We hope Benefactor can escort us part of the way."
"No." Li Banfeng refused without a second thought. "The Inner Gully isn't far, about thirty li from here. I can point you in the right direction."
With that, Li Banfeng crouched down and sketched a simple map on the ground.
Xiao Yeci studied the map and looked back at Li Banfeng with a pleading expression. "This is our first time in Medicine King Gully, and every step of the journey has left us trembling with fear. Benefactor, please escort us. We are willing to pay, eh!"
"No amount of money will change my mind, eh! I am staying here to fight the dwelling spirit to the death, eh. The two of you should leave at once, eh!"
Xiao Yeci froze in disbelief. "Benefactor, you want to fight the dwelling spirit?"
Li Banfeng straightened his back. "What else should I do? Let this vengeful spirit roam free to harm the innocent? You've read so many books, yet you still don't understand what it means to be the noblest hero?[1]"
1. Li Banfeng is quoting Jin Yong's
The Return of the Condor Heroes
. The full quote is 侠之大者，为国为民 (Xia Zhi Da Zhe, Wei Guo Wei Ming). It refers to someone who embodies the highest ideal of heroism, not just helping friends or seeking personal honor, but protecting the common people and even the nation. ☜
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